The Tango: An Elegant Dance Between Colorado’s Elevation and Air Cushions

Air Cushions are known to be one of the BEST cushions for pressure relief. The air-filled cells are designed to distribute the PERFECT amount of pressure evenly along the shape of a body, same physics concept that allows people to “painlessly” lay on bed of nails. But here is the twist- what happens to an air cushion when the air pressure changes outside? Managing the air in an air cushion as you move through Colorado is like doing the tango with the atmosphere—it takes the art of adaptation, timing, & responsiveness.

Imagine going for a picnic at Estes Park. As you gain elevation and enjoy the views of the beautiful mountains you hear 2 loud pops go off- you chip bags exploded…. Why? The Atmospheric pressure around your chip bag is dropping (that dang thin air) as you gained elevation BUT the air inside your chip bag has the same atmospheric pressure as where it was packaged in Georgia at 400ft elevation.

The chip bag explosion is a little dramatic, but it gets the point across. Replace your chip bag with an air cushion. Imagine a similar scenario, pretend you are leaving your Denver home, at 5,280ft and taking a daytrip to see a show at Red Rocks Amphitheater, sitting at 6,450 ft.  As you drive through Denver to the foothills, you are slowly increasing in elevation and your cushion has the same air pressure from 5,280ft. The outside atmospheric air pressure is dropping, and now like your chip bag blowing up, your air cushion is doing the SAME THING. The air pressure difference from inside the cushion to outside will cause your cushion to get harder/more firm.

Your air cushion originally had the perfect amount of air to envelop your bottom is now harder, pushing up on the boney parts of your butt. Instead of laying on a bed of nails, you are now stepping on a single nail (insert Marv from Home Alone walking up the stairs- ah). It takes just about20 minutes to start developing a pressure sore, the same time it takes to drive to Red Rocks from Denver.

Think of vacations to the mountains, flying in airplanes, traveling to and from work. Colorado’s beautiful landscape comes with some serious elevation changes, even in the front range. Air cushion products recommend checking the cushion air pressure when changing elevation (both increase or decrease) by 1,000ft or more. And if we are not diligent about matching the inside cushion air pressure to the outside air pressure, you are at risk for improper support and possible pressure injury.

Air cushions are among the best for pressure relief, but even the best dancers need to stay in sync.  So, stay ahead of your air pressure, and you’ll keep perfect rhythm with the high-altitude tango between your aircushion and Colorado.

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